USATF announces 2015 Nike Coach of the Year

12/3/2015

HOUSTON -- Bobby Kersee, who guided four of his athletes to the IAAF World Championships in Beijing, has been named the 2015 Nike Coach of the Year, USATF announced Thursday.

Kersee will be honored on Saturday, December 5, at the Jesse Owens Awards in Houston, Texas. The event is held in conjunction with USATF’s Annual Meeting. Tickets for the event are available at the Hyatt Regency Houston until the ceremony is sold out.

Coach Kersee’s athletes combined for two Diamond League titles and three World Championships medals in 2015. Most notably, his pupil Allyson Felix was named Jackie Joyner-Kersee Female Athlete of the Year after a season where she won her third Diamond League 200m title and a national title in the 400m, while also capturing gold in the 400m and two silver medals in the relays at the IAAF World Championships.

“It’s really cool to win (Athlete of the Year) with Bobby winning, too,” Felixnoted. “I think the last time we both won was in 2005, so it’s really special to see the journey and where we’ve come from.”

In addition to Felix’s spectacular 2015, Dawn Harper-Nelson captured both the USATF Championship 100m hurdles title and her fourth consecutive IAAF Diamond League crown en route to the third-fastest time in the world in 2015 (12.48). Harper-Nelson turned in three Diamond League meeting victories in 2015 and had five victories on the season, including the Memorial Van Damme in Brussels to seal the 2015 Diamond League crown.

Teammates Jeneba Tarmoh (200m) and Kori Carter (400mH) both finished in the top three at USATF Outdoors and made the World Championships team in 2015, finishing the season near the top of the U.S. and world rankings in their respective events.

This is the second time in his career Kersee has won Nike Coach of the Year. He was also honored with the award in 2005, when Felix won the IAAF World Championships gold medal in the 200 meters in Helsinki, Finland.